Hunter To Partner With Tech Start-Up Grabyo For Real-Time Fashion Show

Rachel Arthur
, ContributorI write about the intersection of fashion, business and technology.Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own.

Live and localized are two key phrases you can associate with the Hunter Original show due to be held at London Fashion Week next Saturday, September 13.

The British-based wellington boot brand, in its second ever season showing on the runway, is set to partner with real-time video start-up Grabyo in order to deliver up to 10 instantaneous highlights from the catwalk to its fans via
Twitter.

Key moments as they unfold will be available for followers in 10-45 second clips, whether at a desktop or viewing via their smartphones (which is where the majority of traffic inevitably tends to be seen based on Grabyo’s past experience).

Better yet, said content will also be geo-targeted on Twitter so the type of items shown from the collection are reflective of the user’s particular region and climate.

A festival-goer in Los Angeles might receive a video featuring more lightweight outerwear or footwear, while someone in London is more likely to get something deemed appropriate for the typical British weather.

The opening look from Hunter Original's fall/winter 2014 show at London Fashion Week in February

Alasdhair Willis, Hunter’s creative director, said: “Working with Grabyo and delivering geo-targeted content through our social channels enables us to have a more relevant and engaging conversation with our customers on a local level. The opportunity allows us to merchandise the show across key regions in real time.”

Followers will also gain access to extended highlights and exclusive curated edits on Facebook and Instagram.

Grabyo has previously been used for major sports and music events such as the FIFA World Cup in Brazil or Wimbledon in London. This is its first foray into the fashion space.

Gareth Capon, CEO at Grabyo, said: “The collaboration has given us a valuable insight into the industry and it is a real privilege to be working with Hunter, a company that is showing a new and innovative approach to its business and challenging the current distribution of video on social media with bite size, broadcast quality and near-live content.”

A mock-up of the Hunter x Grabyo partnership in action for London Fashion Week spring/summer 2015

The move comes at a time when live streaming fashion shows has become somewhat of a mundane experience rather than the exciting one it first was. Today, in New York the average show gets around 14,000 views, while London peaks at only about 6,000 – according to research from September 2013 – small fry in a social media driven world.

For the record, Hunter will also be live streaming via YouTube at 2pm London time on September 13. It’s from this feed Grabyo is able to clip, preview, edit and then distribute the content onto Twitter.

Video in general is hugely on the up for brands, with everything from Instagram’s new Hyperlapse app to Facebook’s Autoplay feature and Twitter’s introduction of an upload ability to Vine, set to significantly impact both creative input and views this fashion week season.